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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41119
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Two things to keep in mind.

First, _stereotypes exist for a reason._ Pattern-matching and association are what the human brain does best, and when lots of people notice the same thing, that many examples of a category have certain characteristics, we form a cultural-level association between the two. That's what a stereotype is, and that's why they're frequently (but not always) accurate. I'm sure that if you think about it, you can think of a few stereotypes about the "type of person" you are that fit you pretty well. I know I can!

Second, _a person is more than a stereotype_. Despite you being in many ways a stereotypical [insert type of person you are here], I'm sure you can also think of several (this word is important; if your character is "this stereotype plus one quirk thrown in for good measure" they'll look _exactly_ like "a stereotype plus one quirk thrown in for good measure") traits you have that don't fit the stereotypes and might even surprise someone when they find out these things about you.

There are a number of ways you can play with this:

- The character embraces the stereotype so that people can easily categorize them and don't look closer, because there's something they don't want others finding out. It's possible that they may even not actually be a member of the stereotyped group and they're just faking it. For example, historical ninjas didn't actually dress in black bodysuits for stealth; they adopted the role of peasants or servants, fitting in with people's expectations of lower-class individuals to become _socially_ invisible until they could get an opportunity to get close to their targets.
- The character is completely unaware that they fit a stereotype. There's a girl in my martial arts class who was complaining a while back that we were training a lot of punches and strikes when she greatly prefers using kicks. I jokingly said "wow, you're such a stereotype!" and she looked all confused until I explained about [Kick Chicks](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KickChick) in action movies. Then she laughed and said she had no idea that was even a thing.
- The character has a good reason for being the way they are. I don't remember which book it was or exactly what the plot reason was, but there was a point in one of Tom Clancy's novels where Person A needed Person B, who was in prison, to get killed there. The author could have simply said that he contacted some random thug in prison and arranged for the murder. Instead, he went into a lot of detail of establishing who the random thug was, explaining his background and how he never really had much choice and almost inevitably ended up in a life of crime, that he had been failed by both his family and society, etc. He went into detail about the guy's criminal career, how he had gotten away with what he had done so far, and how they managed to catch him this time. This transformed him from "random thug in prison" into an actual interesting character who the reader becomes invested in, even though his only narrative role is to be the random thug in prison who kills the guy that the other guy needs dead.

One example I've seen that plays with stereotypes every which way comes from one of the Paul Twister stories. Paul gets wind of a situation where the locals are upset because a commoner girl is carrying the child of the young baronet, who refuses to acknowledge her. Paul's like, "I've heard that story plenty of times before. It never turns out very well for the girl, or the kid." But as a rogue-for-hire, discontent is Paul's bread and butter, so he heads off to check it out and finds "that story" falling apart from the very beginning: instead of nobody caring, there's a paladin there to investigate. Paul reassures the townsfolk that he knows this paladin, that she's trustworthy and she can get to the bottom of anything and find out the truth. He later catches the pregnant girl trying to break into the paladin's inn room, wanting to drive her off. Turns out she's afraid that the investigation _will_ discover the truth: the kid isn't the baronet's at all, but after an injury left her boyfriend unable to provide for them, she chose to claim it was because everyone knew he was like that, and if she could convince the right people that it was true, she'd get a stipend from the Crown for the care of her child.

Instead of "avoiding the appearance of stereotypes," embrace it! It's a useful tool to help the reader establish a familiar baseline for the character. Just remember that _appearance is only skin deep._ A character who is nothing but a stereotype is either boring, offensive, or both.

Original score: 2